


Blanket Fort

by LiGi



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Awesome Gwaine (Merlin), Best Friends, Canon Era, Caring Gwaine (Merlin), Could be slash if you want, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Friendship/Love, Gwaine Being Gwaine (Merlin), Minor Gwaine/Merlin (Merlin), Overworked Merlin (Merlin), Pillow & Blanket Forts, Tired Merlin (Merlin), Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, self-care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28077564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiGi/pseuds/LiGi
Summary: Merlin is tired and overworked but won't stop until Gwaine forces him into a blanket fort to sleep. Pure warm and fuzzy fluff!
Relationships: Gwaine & Merlin (Merlin)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 87





	Blanket Fort

**Author's Note:**

> Have some lovely fluffy Merlin and Gwaine! Can be slash or just friendship, it's up to you :) Enjoy!

“Merlin?” Gwaine jogged to catch up with Merlin. He was carrying a basket, various pieces of armour and clothing piled up in it. It didn’t look particularly heavy but Merlin’s shoulders were drooping with the weight of it.

“Hey, Gwaine,” Merlin said tiredly, shifting the basket onto his hip and rubbing a hand over his face, but not stopping walking. Gwaine fell into step beside him.

“You alright?”

“Yeah, just –” he broke off with a yawn.

“Need a break?” Gwaine finished for him.

“No, I’ve gotta get to Arthur.” He hoisted the basket a little higher. “He needs me to clean his armour and mend this shirt he ripped yesterday and –”

“Stuff Arthur. Come on. You deserve a break.”

Merlin rolled his head from side to side, his neck clicking audibly.

“No, I –” he yawned again. “I don’t have time.”

“What if I said I need your help?” Gwaine caught Merlin’s elbow to stop him, pulling him around to look at him. He took the basket from his arms.

“Do you?” Merlin quirked an eyebrow at him, trying to take the basket back.

“Yes, I do. It’s my friend, he’s going to make himself unwell,” he said pointedly. “He works too hard and looks awful; pale and exhausted. I’m worried he’ll collapse soon if he doesn’t stop.”

Merlin frowned. Gwaine expected a sarcastic rebuttal, but instead Merlin nodded, actually believing that he was helping someone else.

“See if you can get him to rest. Keep him warm and make him eat something sweet to keep his strength up.”

Merlin must be even more tired than Gwaine first thought to have not seen straight through Gwaine’s obvious ploy. But he wasn’t above taking advantage of Merlin’s caring nature in order to make him take care of himself.

“Will you come with me?” he asked, gesturing down the corridor in the direction of his chambers.

“Of course,” Merlin muttered, clamping his hand over his mouth to cover another yawn.

Gwaine rolled his eyes; Merlin would work himself into the ground to help other people. He held Merlin’s basket under one arm, and kept his other hand on Merlin’s elbow as they walked. Merlin was a little shaky.

Getting to his chambers, Gwaine opened the door and steered Merlin inside. He let the basket drop to the floor, the armour in it clanking. Merlin looked around, clearly still under the impression he was here to see Gwaine’s friend. He frowned when he found the room empty.

“Is he not here yet?” he questioned, his face screwed up in confusion.

“He’s right here, you daft thing,” Gwaine said fondly, patting Merlin on the back gently.

Merlin’s frown deepened then understanding seemed to click into place.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” Gwaine grinned.

“I don’t need to rest, Gwaine. I’m fi–” Another yawn, so wide it made his jaw crack.

“Shut up, Merls.”

He guided Merlin towards the bed. He’d made it ready earlier before going to find his friend, knowing exactly what Merlin needed even if he himself didn’t. He shoved him through the opening in the curtains.

Gwaine had pulled all of the curtains around his four poster bed. He’d even draped extra blankets and furs over the frame so the inside of the bed was a cosy den of soft warmth. He grinned as Merlin made an appreciative noise.

“My sister used to do this for me when I was little, when I didn’t want to sleep sometimes,” Gwaine mused. “Before she turned into a spiteful old toad anyway.”

“It’s nice,” Merlin said, stroking one of the walls of the blanket fort. He sighed. “But I really have things to –”

“No. No you don’t. The only thing you need to do is sleep.”

Merlin made a half hearted attempt to get up, but Gwaine pushed him down onto the mound of extra pillows he’d pinched from Lancelot’s and Elyan’s rooms. He knelt next to Merlin on the bed and pulled the curtains closed behind him so that they were fully enclosed within the four poster bed.

“Gwaine…” Merlin complained weakly, but his eyes were already drooping as another yawn slipped out.

“Shhh.” Gwaine put a hand on Merlin’s chest, rubbing it slowly.

Within minutes Merlin was fast asleep. Gwaine shuffled down the bed to pull Merlin’s boots off, dropping them over the side of the bed. He tucked another blanket over him, smiling indulgently as Merlin rolled onto his side and shoved his hands under the pillow, pressing his face into the soft cotton. Gwaine pushed the hair off his forehead, letting his hand rest against Merlin’s cheek for a second before getting up off the bed and retrieving Merlin’s basket.

**\----------**

Merlin was warm and comfy when he woke. He blinked his eyes open and rolled over, clicking his aching shoulders. He was in an enclosed den of blankets and furs, warm and soft and safe.

“Hey sleeping beauty,” Gwaine said fondly.

He was sitting beside Merlin on the bed, a pile of Arthur’s armour on his lap, polishing cloth in hand.

“What’re you doin’?” Merlin slurred, trying to get his brain to wake up fully. He felt like he could still sleep for a week longer if he just let his eyes drift closed again.

“Polishing the princess’s armour. And I fixed his shirt.”

He leaned forward and grabbed the shirt Arthur had ripped yesterday – if it was still yesterday, Merlin had no idea how long he’d been asleep. The rip down the side had been stitched back together, not as neatly perhaps as Merlin would have done himself, but good enough for Arthur to wear under his chainmail on the practise field.

“Tha’s my job,” he protested.

Merlin pushed himself up on the pillows, only now noticing how many of them were stuffed under him. He reached for the cloth and Arthur’s vambrace in Gwaine’s hand. Gwaine lifted it out of his reach.

“Your job right now is to eat something,” Gwaine told him. He gestured with his socked foot to a tray balanced at the end of the bed. “You’re in my blanket fort, you do what I say.”

Merlin couldn’t help smiling. He shuffled across the bed, pulling his legs in and crossing them as he looked over the tray. There were soft bread rolls and a pot of honey and a jug of creamy fresh milk.

“I milked the cow myself,” Gwaine said with a grin.

“No you didn’t.” Merlin laughed.

“No. I didn’t. But I charmed the dairymaid and she gave it to me. I forgot to get cups though so you have to drink from the jug, sorry.”

Merlin didn’t mind. His stomach had just woken up and was telling him he was ravenous. He tipped the jug to his lips and drank greedily.

Gwaine smirked when Merlin finally lowered the jug. He dropped the vambrace and cloth into his lap and leant forwards, his thumb running over Merlin’s top lip. His hands smelt like metal and armour polish and his thumb came away covered in cream. He wiped it off on his breeches. Merlin raised the back of his hand to rub his mouth, catching the rest of the cream and blushing.

He picked up a roll, offering it to Gwaine. Gwaine grinned and shoved Arthur’s armour off his lap, wincing slightly as it rolled off the edge of the bed between the curtain and mattress and clanked to the floor. Merlin gave him a look.

“Sorry.”

“If that’s dented, I’ll be in trouble,” he complained, throwing the bread roll at Gwaine’s face.

Gwaine caught it and took a rough bite, then hooked the tray with his foot and slid it towards himself, dunking the remainder of his roll into the honey pot.

Merlin picked up his own roll, tearing it into smaller pieces before copying Gwaine’s action and dipping it in the honey. He lifted it, quickly cupping his other hand underneath as the honey dripped, and stuffed it in his mouth. It was lovely. He hummed appreciatively.

“Feeling better?” Gwaine questioned.

A full smile spread across Merlin’s face. It felt like the first one in a while.

“Much. Thank you, Gwaine.”

Gwaine grinned back, his fist bumping gently into Merlin’s chin.

“Anything for you, Merlin, you know that.”


End file.
